Those in Peril By Wilbur Smith - WINNER

Thank you very much to those who entered my giveaway here, I have just entered all the names into a random generator and here is the winning selection: (all names were added it only shows 6 but the double entries were there)

Congratulations Tracey! I will be in touch shortly to get your address from you to send off your book (and maybe a little something else too!lol)

Ultraviolet by R J Anderson

I was sent this book recently by the lovely people at Books with Bite on Facebook and it's finally hit the top of my "to read" pile.

When the opportunity arose for me to gain a copy of this book I jumped at the chance after reading the description online:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.
This is not her story.
Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori - the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

It sounds irresistible doesn't it? Well it did to me anyway, I love a good mystery and for the most part this is a great one.

It's well written and the characters are believable. You can understand Alison's motivations and empathise with her for most of what she's going through and the secondary characters personalities and motivations come through really well too which makes the book all the more engrossing

The twist in the book I almost saw coming but dreaded the idea and so didn't give in to the thoughts but when I was proven correct in my assumption I felt let down. I actually put the book down for over a day before going back to it and trying to resume. I'm not going to say what the twist is nor say which genre I feel this book really belongs in, that would give far too much away but I urge you to return to it again if like me it puts you off. The writing is excellent still and it really does turn into such a wonderful tale even if it's not a genre you read much of.

Ultraviolet is released on June 2nd 2011 and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, paranormal, romance type books so go find it in the Children's/Young Adult section :-)

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I was recently sent this book to read and review, after picking it up the day before yesterday I found it very hard to put it down again and I finished the entire 405 pages already!

It's 1999 and for the staff of one newspaper office, the internet is still a novelty. By day, two young women, Beth and Jennifer, spend their hours emailing each other, discussing in hilarious detail every aspect of their lives, from love troubles to family dramas. And by night, Lincoln, a shy, lonely IT guy spends his hours reading every exchange. At first their emails offer a welcome diversion, but as Lincoln unwittingly becomes drawn into their lives, the more he reads, the more he finds himself falling for one of them. By the time Lincoln realizes just how head-over-heels he really is, it's way too late to introduce himself. What would he say to her? 'Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail - and also, I think I love you'. After a series of close encounters, Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . and find out whether there really is such a thing as love before first-sight. Heartwarming, witty and unforgettable, ATTACHMENTS is an irresistible romantic comedy that has it all.

I admit I started this book with a little trepidation, I was concerned that the emails would be long epic ones like in some other similar novels but there I had a very pleasant surprise. The emails concerned were short quippy ones, like those we've all shared with friends at some point when having a conversation through email. They tell the stories of Beth and Jennifer well and we understand them, their lives and motivations far easier through these conversations than we would do through conventionally written chapters which means we get to share in more of their lives, past and present and learn who they are really and their hopes, dreams and fears rather than what they look like and long descriptive passages of where they are.


This is also somewhat true of Lincoln, although the chapters which involve him are conventionally written. Because the girls side is so abridged we get to spend more time with him, his family and friends learning about how his life has been and how it has led to him living with his Mother and working as an I.T. guy and yes, he is one of those who plays D&D as well but don't hold that against him, at least D&D players have friends!lol

It really is hard to try and explain why I loved reading this book without giving away too much of what happens so I'm going to have to leave it here and let you know that this is a fabulous read, perfect for lazing with on the beach this summer (or cosy by the fire if it's a typical British summer!lol) It's released on the 12th of May and is well worth picking up a copy as it's not just a romance story, there are some really funny moments in there as well.

Those in Peril By Wilbur Smith (Giveaway)

I have to say first off that I've never read any Wilbur Smith books before as I've always felt they would be far too masculine for my tastes. When the opportunity presented itself for me to read this new one, I did some research first to discover more about the book itself and to not be put off by my impression of the type of books this author writes. I really am happy that I did so as it made me think that this sounded an interesting read and I wasn't wrong!

We mostly follow the story through Hazel Bannock, an ex tennis player who wed and was widowed by an oil magnate. We see what happens when her teenage daughter is kidnapped and tortured by Somalian pirates and yes, it is quite graphic on some scenes involving both torture and rape but this IS the reality of what happens to the unfortunates who get caught up in this situation so I consoled myself with the fact that the victim I was so concerned over was fictitious.

We see snippets of the political hand wringing that must happen in these situations in the real world and we meet Hector Cross. Long time contractor of Hazel's late Husband, Hector provides security for Bannock Oil Corp in most countries but predominantly the Middle East. Even though he owns Cross Bow Security, Hector fights on the front line with his men to defend the companies property and in this case the family behind the company as well.

I really don’t want to give too much of the storyline away, it's masterfully woven together with some humorous moments amongst the horrors that we witness as we follow the characters. I laughed, I cried, I was nauseous and I cheered on each victory that came till I turned the last page!

PLEASE NOTE:

This giveaway has now ended and a winner has been selected

And now for the bit you're really interested in, the giveaway! Well, I have a second copy of this book to offer to my blog readers. To enter please:

A) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect and comment here when you have

B) Subscribe by email via the Feedburner link and comment here when you have

You can do either or both, if you do both, please make 2 comments, current followers/subscribers are free to enter, you just need to comment. 

This draw is open to the UK only and closes on the 18th April 2011 when a winner will be selected by using a random number/name generator and comparing the number/name it selects with the list of posted entries.

Please leave a way for me to contact you when you make your comments be it through Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, MSE or Loquax or even email but please do not put email addresses in the comment boxes as I will be publishing the comments after I have reviewed them to check you have followed/subscribed before commenting :-)

Boux Avenue

Boux Avenue describe themselves as being Born out of a love for lingerie, nightwear and all things beautiful with a desire to bring traditional service, superior fit and outstanding quality to modern and luxurious surroundings. And I have to say I agree with them!

Where else could you (these days) place an order at 10:13 on a Saturday morning and have it delivered before 10am on a Monday morning? That just doesn't happen for the most part unless you are willing to pay extortionate delivery fees, or collect from the store yourself 

So anyway, On Saturday I received an email informing me that I had won a £10 gift card to use with Boux Avenue and so I set off to investigate if there was anything I could afford to get with just the card. The first thing I checked was the postage, after noting it would be £3 I realised I would have £7 to spend. At this point I wasn't too hopeful of being able to find anything for that price, the website has such an elegant and sophisticated feel to it that I assumed it would be out of my budget even if I were to add a payment to the gift card.

I am very pleased to say I was wrong and not just a little wrong, there were many things I could have chosen which were under the value of the card, it was getting quite difficult to pick something out until I hit the Lingerie Accessories section, there I found a possible solution to my main problem with bra's! 

I have, for as long as I can remember, always had a problem with my straps falling off my shoulders and down my arms. I have combated this by tying them together at the back (well, OK, having someone else tie them for me!lol) but these bra converters sound like a good solution for me as well as being useful for in the summer for wearing differently shaped tops while keeping the straps safely tucked away!

After seeing these and deciding I just had to get them I started the ordering process. It was very simple and worked really well. At one point I was asked if I wanted it wrapping or not (green issues about waste) and part of me felt I should say no to the wrappings but the bigger part of me wanted to be girly and have them and I did!

This morning when it arrived it was so pretty, I felt so special opening the boxes, especially the last one, to fine the converters nestled with some scented rose petals. I really cant commend this company highly enough and I really do recommend you take the time to have a look at them and see what they sell, a purchase from them is so much more than just home shopping. They have an impeccable service which really does make you feel like a valued customer and I will be back.

Website: http://www.bouxavenue.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/bouxavenue

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BouxAvenue

White envelopes we like!

What a way to start the weekend that was! When I collected the post Saturday morning I saw this

Now we all know instinctively what this means and I was so excited opening it and after flipping the envelope open I could see the top of what was unmistakeably a cheque poking out of it. Reading the accompanying letter I discovered the £100 was for winning a su-doku prize from one of their weekly issues :-) So that's a little bit more to add to the house fund, not much I know but it all helps :-)


The diet's still going well, I've lost another lb this week so I'm back on track again after my birthday. We're seeing a lot of family and friends at the end of this month that we haven't seen for a good few months and I have to say I'm a little nervous about it! They all know we're dieting so I'm wondering if they'll notice the loss and if they say they have ....... will they just be saying it as it's what you say when you know someones on a diet! Oh the joys of being paranoid!lol